Readings:

Genesis 25:19-34
Psalm 119:105-112
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Prayers for Others

(Chris Dodd) 12 July 2020

Our loving and gracious God,

Your psalms remind us that even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death you will be there with us.
During this trying year we feel that we have entered the deepest of valleys. We are discouraged. We are afraid. We struggle to find hope. We are burdened and laid low.

It is not unreasonable to feel these things as the trials we face are overbearing and relentless and it is hard
not to be dragged down by our afflictions. And so we don’t apologize for our despair and we don’t see it as in any way demonstrating lack of faith in you. We simply acknowledge as Job and David and Daniel and Jonah and even Jesus did, that you walk with us in the dark times just as you walk with us in times of joy and celebration.

So this day, from this dark place we reach out to you for strength when we feel burdened, hope where there
is fear, comfort where there is despair and faith where there is doubt.

We thank you for those whose work help us to carry on – for the medical staff, cleaners, garbage collectors, shop workers who supply us with the essentials of life, transport workers, taxi drivers and all those who help us move around. We praise our ministers and church folk who in times where we cannot meet together carve out spaces for us to worship you and find strength from each other.

We thank you for the difficult decisions made at many levels of government in our land that has lessened the impact of this virus and we thank you for the scientists whose wisdom has guided us.

We know we have not yet travelled through this dark valley. We know there are many days and many kilometres to go. We know we will be tempted to take shortcuts or to simply say we’ve had enough and we are done with it. We know such a course will be fatal and so we pray that we will have the courage and faith to stay the course.

We look to you.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever”

O loving God may we look to you for strength. May we trust in your promises. Walk with us this week and may we always seek to walk with you.

Amen.

Singing the Scripture

This week’s Singing The Scripture is an eclectic selection of songs that we hope will help you forma. soundtrack to your week, in it you might find a song that you play in the morning, another at midday and another in the evening as the day closes, or perhaps you’ll like to listen to the songs as you travel to or from work.

Worship Material – July 12

This week’s Home Brewed Resources invites you to explore two of my favourite stories in the bible, the birth of Esau and Jacob and the Parable of the Sower. Both options include resources, conversation starters and music that would be great for individuals, families, couples or households to use as you create a sacred space in your life this week.

If you feel drawn to the Gospel reading this week, the Parable of the Sower you will find music, story, reflection, prayer exploring the reading here.

If you feel drawn to the Genesis reading, the story of the birth of the twins you will find music, story, reflection, prayer exploring the reading here.

I pray that this week’s material provides you all with opportunities to connect with God’s story this week

Shalom,

Darren Wright

Call to Worship

Sowing seeds,
scattering them around,
have we prepared the land?
Will our seeds land on fertile ground?
Will their roots take hold?
Will the new growth be strong?
And will the harvest be bountiful?
How do we take our mustard seed faith and grow it?
Come gather,
gather and be fed and nourished.
Come gather
gather and raise your voices in praise.
Come gather,
gather and worship our God,
the nourishment of our lives.

Readings:

Genesis 25:19-34
Psalm 119:105-112
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

A parable retold – Matthew 13:1–9

By Rev Sarah Agnew, Wesley UCA, Canberra

Listen.
Life scatters seeds indiscriminately.
Seeds of hope, of peace, of kindness;
seeds of joy, of love, of wisdom.
Falling on stone, birds may steal the seeds.
Falling on rocky ground, the seeds grow fast, but
do not live long without depth for resilience
when the wind howls, and the sun scorches.
Falling among thorns, the seeds are choked,
no air to breathe, no room to move.
Falling on healthy soil, the seeds of hope,
of peace, of kindness, seeds
of joy, of love, of wisdom push their roots
down deep, stretch their leaves high and wide,
grow strong, fruitful, spreading hope, peace
kindness, joy, love, wisdom, letting seeds
fall for more to grow in time.
Listen.
Which soil are you, for the falling seeds?
Listen. Listen and hear.
Amen.

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

God of growth,
you bring nourishment
to our land and to our lives.
You plant seeds of love in our hearts
to grow and to blossom
so we can welcome and serve your world in your name.
Christ our cultivator,
we ask that you break up the guilt that stifles our growth.
We pray that you will uproot our wrongdoings
to allow us and this world to grow into something beautiful.
For our shortcomings,
spoken and unspoken,
in action and by not acting at all,
forgive us.
Pause
Sowing Spirit,
may you create in us
a people of peace,
a collective of compassion and a household of hope for all.

Amen.

Story – The Sower

Source: The Growing In gods Love Storybible published by FlyAwayBooks

The Parable of the sower (in LEGO)

Song: The Sower’s Song

Reflection – The Sower

Song: The Seed Song

Jesus, Storyteller, a Conversation Starter

Source: Spill the Beans Issue 17

Jesus lived for most of his life in a small town and he knewall about the crops that the farmers grew in the fields. Lots of the stories Jesus told were about farming and farmers, about seeds and corn, about hungry birds and weeds and flowers. And Jesus knew about cities too, about busy streets and crowds of people. Jesus told stories about homes and families, about cooking and cleaning, about brothers and sisters, about weddings and parties. Jesus noticed what was going on all around him; he asked questions and he told stories.

How many of Jesus stories can you remember?

Here are some clues:

A story that mentions hungry birds. (Mark 4)
A story about cooking. (Matthew 13)
A story that mentions robbers and a donkey. (Luke 10)
A story that mentions oil. (Matthew 25)
A story about 400 legs of lamb. (Luke 14)
A story that mentions six brothers and a few dogs. (Matthew 25)
A story that mentions goats. (Matthew 25) A story about builders. (Matthew 7)
A story about being woken up in the middle of the night. (Luke 11)
A story that mentions pigs. (Luke 15)

What’s your favourite story that Jesus told and why?

Sending

Source: Spill the Beans Issue 17

Lord, send us out into our community to scatter the seed of your word,
to sow the seeds of your love,
to tend the shoots that we see growing and taking root.
Give us courage and patience
to nourish others
as you have nourished us today.

Take Home Ideas For The Week

Source: Spill the Beans Issue 17

Where can we sow seeds in our community this week?

Take time to think about the opportunities we each have to sow seeds of trust, friendship and support with those around us.

Are there examples of the seeds for new things sprouting around you that might need nurture and support to continue to grow?

Call to Worship

Source: Spill the Beans, Issue 24

May our eyes and our ears be wide open this day,
may we see with clarity,
may we hear loud and clear,
may we be challenged,
inspired and awe-struck
as we worship God today
and all our days.

Amen

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

Source: Spill the Beans, Issue 24

Parent God,
we gather here delighted to be your children,
sons and daughters loved and welcomed home.

Families can be wonderful, supportive, friendly
but sometimes they can be horrid,
filled with jealousy and dishonesty.

Happy families or unhappy families,
you love them all,
you support them all and guide them all.

Relationships are meant to be open,
to flow in both giving and receiving directions.
Jesus tried to show us this in his lifetime.

Bible characters reveal the reality of family living,
the ups and downs, good and not so good times.

Jesus reveals a way of service, of giving,
of allowing the flow to empty him completely.
Lord, we are frail and fickle and struggle to be like Jesus.

We are sorry for all the times we let you down,
for the times we let ourselves down or others down.

Forgive us, help us be humble and honest
and make amends, make things right.
Help us reconcile with our brothers and sisters.

Amen.

Readings:

Genesis 25:19-34
Psalm 119:105-112
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Story: How The Twins Were Born

Source: The Growing In gods Love Storybible published by FlyAwayBooks

Story: The Brothers Quibble by Aaron Blabey

This is a great story about sibling rivalry and love by an Australian author and illustrator. The story of Jacob and Esau can be seen as a story of sibling rivalry, how you you deal with conflict at home?

The Questioner And God

Source: Spill the Beans, Issue 24

THE QUESTIONER:
Hey God, are you having a laugh?
This whole story of Jacob does not seem credible!
You seem to be rewarding deceit and cheating,
you seem to trash the law and family tradition
that elsewhere seems so important to you?

As for Rebekah, the wife and mother,
turning against her husband and oldest son?
Really!

Or perhaps you were you trying to punish someone?
Perhaps getting at Esau for selling his birth right
for a bowl of stew or sorting Isaac out
for some of his past mistakes?

Why do you show such favouritism to Jacob?
Why let his mother manipulate the family?
Why, oh why is all this okay?
Or is this all your doing God?
Is it really just part of your plan,
to have Jacob discover you?

Is this the only way you could have included him
and drawn him into your plans?
Surely, there could have been another way, God?
You could have used other means that seem more God like,
that seem more honest, trustworthy!

I am sorry to question your ways God!
You who call us to truthfulness
and to stand up for justice.
You who call us to love one another and to care for our enemies.
You who challenge us to walk in your footsteps
and to perform mighty deeds and wonders in your name.

Then you throw in a stunt like this,
that seems to suggest dishonesty is okay,
if it suits your ways and purposes?

Lord, do not strike me down dead for such questions,
I am confused, perplexed, befuddled by what I read,
to cheat a man out of his birth right,
to force a young somewhat naïve Jacob
to carry out his mother’s will,
to deceive a blind man with such cheap parlour tricks?
Really God, is that what this is?

And then when the deed is done,
you give Jacob a glimpse of heaven!
You open for him a gateway to Kingdom life.
You place a ladder,
that leads from earth to heaven and back again.
We see your holy angels going backwards and forwards,
from heaven to earth,
delivering your messages,
and bringing little bits of heaven to earth.

Yet much more than this,
you bestow a blessing on Jacob.
You make promises to make a great nation of Israel.
Promises that Jacob will be fruitful
and have many sons and daughters,
as many as the dust of the earth!
That he will become a father to the Nation,
and that you will be with him wherever you go?

GOD:
GRACE, MY SON, IT IS ALL ABOUT GRACE.
THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO EARN SUCH BLESSING.
REMEMBER, ESAU HAD ALREADY OFFERED HIS BIRTH RIGHT
TO HIS BROTHER, JACOB, FOR A BOWL OF STEW.
THE DEED WAS NOT REALLY MINE.

YOU CAN BE A CRIMINAL NAILED TO A CROSS
AND YOU WILL STILL DISCOVER
MY GRACE AND MERCY IS FOR YOU.
YOU CAN BE THE GREATEST HUMAN BEING ON EARTH,
AND BE LAUDED AND APPLAUDED BY MANY,
YET STILL FALL SHORT OF THE MARK.
WHEN IT COMES TO MY HAND
TOUCHING YOU, BLESSING YOU, MARKING YOU OUT,
AS MY CHOSEN AND LOVED AND HONOURED
I SPEAK AND ACT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
I TOUCH ALL MY PEOPLE,
EVEN DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES LIKE THIS ONE.
THEREIN LIES HOPE FOR ALL OF YOU.

Reflection – Rebekah And The Twins

A Conversation on Conflict

Have a conversation this week about how your household deals with conflict.

What happens when you disagree?

How could you work things out better?

Make some decisions on how you’d like to work through conflict in your house, write your decisions down, make a promise to work hard to live them out.

A prayer for the meal table this week.

Source: Spill the Beans, Issue 24

This would be a good prayer to pray every night this week, if you’re exploring this story with children perhaps this’d be a good prayer to pray as you discuss how you deal with conflict in your house/family.

Wise one,
why do people argue and fight,
why can’t we find a way to live together that is peaceful and loving?
Parent of us all,
we are all related, brothers and sisters, and yet we continue to disagree
and fall out with each other.
God of Jacob,
you revealed yourself in a dream, you showed Jacob that you
are as much his God as you are Abraham and Isaac’s,
as much as you are our God.
We love being your children,
we are sorry that we sometimes fight with our families,
forgive us and help us
get along more peacefully.
Help us learn from those
who have gone before us
and try not to copy their mistakes. May we love and care for each other as Jesus taught us.
Amen.

This week’s Home Brewed Worship material reflects on the Song of Songs, sometimes known as the Songs of Solomon. SoS is a collection of poems, collected and curated to tell the story of a couple’s love as they find each other, lose each other, long for each other and dream of each other.

We rarely read the book as it rarely comes up in the Revised Common Lectionary but it’s a great day when you get to read it and remind people that it exists.

This week’s material includes a playlist for the week of songs that speak to the week’s readings, a Prayer for Others that would be a great way to begin or end each day and a couple of invitations to explore the scripture further.

We’re inviting everyone to send in your favourite love poems, or love songs, bonus points if you can send a video of you reading them or singing them… Email them to minister@gungahlinuniting.org to have them included on our website and facebook page.

Call To Worship

Prayer – Celebration of faith.

(Dorothy McRae-McMahon/Adapt./)

God is with us. This we celebrate.
For we have seen the signs of grace in every place, in every generation.
The beauty of the creation, in all its pristine wonder,
is not the only dwelling place of the creator.
This, our God, is born again in cities as well as country stables.
Is found in holy places and the supermarket,
sits with us in coffee shops,
and in the lonely homes of isolation.
The spirit dances on concrete
and holds in comfort those who walk with briefcase and shopping bag. The God who is more than we can ever name or know
is beside us in every work place and every hidden home
of our body, mind and soul.

This Week’s Readings:

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Singing The Scripture

Video Reflections

Prayer for Others

Adapted by Brooke from The Children’s Society UK. Perhaps this can be a daily prayer in your house this week, either as a way to begin or end the day.

God of compassion, at this time of crisis, we bring before you the people
of our country and the world.

We ask for your blessing and strength for those working tirelessly to
protect and save life.

We pray for the vulnerable – especially children – who are at greater risk during this time:

those who are not safe at home;

those who may be plunged into even greater poverty;

those whose mental health may worsen;

those who feel abandoned and alone.

Draw near to all who suffer in mind, body or spirit. Provide strength and
courage, helping all to find hope, refuge and a way forward.

We pray that those who have authority and control lives would use that
power for good, to always remember the little ones and be a voice for
the voiceless.

We pray for charities who are struggling at this time to keep their
vital work going. Help them find new ways to support people in
challenging circumstances. Bless their efforts, at home and abroad,
and keep all safe from harm.

Loving God, we lift up the people, situations and places close to our
hearts. We ask that You would place your hand on these situations
and provide wisdom, comfort and healing.

Amen.

Faith with Others

What Does Love Feel Like?

Have a conversation with a friend, spouse or your family about what you think it means to be in love, perhaps you’d like to share a story of love, or of a time you loved someone else and how that felt.

A Love Poem

Read a couple chapters of the Song of Songs and write your own poem of longing and hope, imagine that you’re one of the characters in the book writing to the other, or perhaps there’s someone in your life that you’d like to write a poem for to express how you really feel about them.

If God is interested in our words of beauty, of longing, of hope how do you respond to words of poetry, either reading them, or writing them as you have done today?

Sharing the love

If you’re sitting around the bible with your children perhaps you’d like to share with them one or two experiences you’ve had with love. What have you learned from those experiences? What does love feel like? How does romantic love differ to other ways you’ve experienced love?

What have you learned about god through your experiences of love?

Dancing To Love

Put a love song playlist together, listen to some of the songs this week, turn the volume up high and dance to the music.

Rise Up, My Love, My Fair One

(Boaz’ Song to Ruth)

by Thomas John Carlisle
Eve and After: Old Testament Women in Portrait (Eerdmans, 1984)

Rise up, my love, my fair one. Come away.
The winter of my witlessness is past.
My concentration on the harvest may
have made me heedless but I see at last.
The mist that filmed my mind is over, gone.
The fairest of flowers appears and it is you.
The singing in my heart has me undone
and I am glad and now know what to do.
The figs have ripened. Vines are in full bloom.
Their fruit and fragrance are as naught to all
your luxury which floods away my gloom
and makes me more than eager for your call.
Arise, my love, my fair one. Come away.
This day of days shall be our wedding day.

Sending / Benediction

Go Deeper

The Song of Songs is a celebration of erotic love, not surprisingly its literal reading was quickly abandoned in favor of allegorical readings in much of Judaism and Christianity where it has been read as symbolizing the love of God or Christ for Israel or the Church. A literal reading requires coming to terms with the raw sexual desire and gratification called for by this woman to her man in the scriptures which many readers found — and find — incompatible with their notion of scripture in spite of the fact that these verses are enshrined and canonized in scripture.

Wil Gafney reflects on the Song of Song’s reading for this week on the Working Preacher Podcast here

What does it mean to love a landscape?
The Song of Songs has often been pitched in one of two ways: either it is an allegory about God’s love, or it is erotic poetry about human love. (As it is the only really sex-positive text in the Bible, by all means preach on that!) But to cast the debate as an either/or undervalues the complexity of the poetry. Rarely do people acknowledge the many other kinds of love that the Song encompasses. These include the love of land.

Writes Elaine James as she reflects on this week’s Song of Songs reading on the Working Preacher website

“What in the world is this doing in the Bible?”
It’s a not an uncommon reaction to a first encounter with the Song of Solomon (or, as it’s known from the Hebrew title, the Song of Songs). A love song between a man and a woman full of lush and sometimes erotic imagery hardly seems appropriate for Holy Writ.

But here it is, in our Bible and in our lectionary readings. “My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag….My beloved speaks and says to me, ‘Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away'”

Writes Kathryn M. Schifferdecker

In a day and time when music and movies simultaneously extol and exploit love distorted, abused, and taken for granted. In a day and time when there are women’s shelters to protect women and their children from domestic and/or family violence. In a day and time when human/sex trafficking rivals the drug trade for illegal financial gain. In a day and time when headlines daily affirm that women around the globe are kidnapped, raped, and disrespected. In a day and time such as this, we need to hear the Song of Songs.

We need to hear voices that speak boldly of true love. We need to be reminded of what love can be. Scholars tell us there was much debate whether to include this book in the sacred text. The text is richer and the world is forever blessed and grateful for those who won the argument for its inclusion.

Writes Alphonetta Wines as she reflects on this week’s Song of Songs reading on the Working Preacher website

The By The Well Podcast discussed the Song of Songs reading this week, and offers a great reflection on wisdom literature this week.

The Working Preacher Podcast explored all the readings for this week’s Lectionary, they also provide some great written reflections on the other readings from this week here.